ABSTRACT
The Dada movement began in 1916 in Zurich as a protest against World War I, which was raging beyond the borders of neutral Switzerland, and against the intellectual and cultural conditions that had led to this war. In February of that year, in the Holländische Meierei at Spiegelgasse 1, a group of young writers and artists, mostly citizens of the warring countries who had taken refuge from military conscription, founded the Cabaret Voltaire, a café/performance space that featured eclectic performances of music, poetry, and dance that represented the major artistic trends of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chief among the founders were the German writers Hugo Ball and Richard Huelsenbeck, the Romanians Marcel Janco and Tristan Tzara, and the Alsatian Jean (Hans) Arp. Ball and Huelsenbeck brought a strong German Expressionist flavor to the early days of the movement; the cabaret performances included readings of the works of such German writers as Wedekind, Lasker-Schüler, and von Hoddis. Tzara brought to the mix a strong interest in the techniques of Italian futurism.
